Scroll Down: Classical Jewish Texts, from Parchment to Internet

Transcription

1 Scroll Down: Classical Jewish Texts, from Parchment to Internet Gary A. Rendsburg Rutgers University Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life Rutgers University 4 December 2017 Aleppo Codex c. 930 Tiberias Sample page shows portions of Ezekiel 2 3 St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Codex 1009 / Tiberias Aleppo Codex / c. 930 / Tiberias Sample verse: Joshua 1:1 ו י ה י א ח ר י מ וֹת מ שׁ ה ע ב ד י הו ה ו יּ אמ ר י הו ה א ל י הוֹשׁ ע בּ ן נ וּן מ שׁ ר ת מ שׁ ה ל אמ ר (digital images not available online) Sample page Genesis 1 Digital Dead Sea Scrolls / Google / Israel Museum 1QIsa a The Great Isaiah Scroll Isaiah 6:3 (1QIsa a ): Holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, all the earth is filled with his glory. Isaiah 6:3 (Masoretic Text): Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, all the earth is filled with his glory. 1

2 Isaiah 6:3 (1QIsa a ): Holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, all the earth is filled with his glory. Isaiah 6:3 (Masoretic Text): Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, all the earth is filled with his glory. the project/the digital library 4Q394 = 4QMMT a fragments 4Q271 = 4QD f Damascus Document Mishna Kaufmann Manuscript A50 (Budapest) Italy, c en/ms50/ms50 coll1.htm Ben Sira, c. 180 B.C.E. 2

3 Mishna Parma Manuscript, Biblioteca Palatina 3173 (De Rossi 138) Italy, 1073 Mishna Manuscript / c / Italy Jewish Theological Seminary ms r org/ Mishna text from the Cairo Geniza (Berakhot 1:1 Zevahim 5:5) Cambridge University Library, T S E2.82 Mishna Shabbat 7:2 (the 39 categories of labor) Three Geniza fragments in Cambridge Mishna manuscripts: [2x]) (M. ʾOhalot 9:10, 10:7, 11:7, 12:8 שׁ קוֹף 12:7) (M. Pesaḥim 9:5, clearly based on Exod מ שׁ קוֹף Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5 a major theological point Mishna printed editions: in all six places מ שׁ קוֹף Barʿam Synagogue lintel inscription: יהי שלום במקום הזה ובכל מקומות ישראל. יוסי הלוי בן לוי עשה השקוף הזה. תבא ברכה במע[ש]יו של[ו]ם Printed editions: שכל המאבד נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו איבד עולם מלא, וכל המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם מלא Manuscripts: שכל המאבד נפש אחת מעלים עליו כאילו איבד עולם מלא, וכל המקיים נפש אחת מעלים עליו כאילו קיים עולם מלא 3

4 Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5 a major theological point Printed editions: One who destroys a life within Israel, he brings upon himself the saying, It is as if he has destroyed an entire world. And one who raises up a life within Israel, he brings upon himself the saying, It is as if he raised up an entire world. Manuscripts: One who destroys a life, he brings upon himself the saying, It is as if he has destroyed an entire world. And one who raises up a life, he brings upon himself the saying, It is as if he raised up an entire world. Talmud Yerushalmi (Talmud of the Land of Israel) Leiden Manuscript Leiden Or the only extant complete manuscript of the Talmud Yerushalmi written in 1289 by Rabeinu Yechiel ben Yekutiel HaRofe of Rome today bound in two volumes, consisting of 682 folios Talmud Yerushalmi (Talmud of the Land of Israel) Leiden Manuscript (Rome, 1289) Sample Page Talmud Yerushalmi / Leiden Manuscript End of Tractate Berakhot / Beginning of Tractate Peʾah Op de Bibliotheken van de Universiteit Leiden 4

5 Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) Munich Manuscript (France, 1342) Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Cod.hebr.95 Talmud Yerushalmi manuscript from the Cairo Geniza Tractate Sanhedrin / Cambridge T S G sammlungen.de/~db/0000/bsb /images/ Babylonian Talmud Paris Manuscript (1337) (incomplete) A comparison of Babylonian Talmud manuscripts Bavli Berakhot 4b How often to recite Psalm 145 each day, in order to gain the world to come? Paris (and other mss): 1x each day Munich (and other mss): 3x each day Bavli Berakhot 4b, Paris MS, folio 193r Bibliothèque Nationale de France, no. 671 Talmud Bavli fragment from the Cairo Geniza Cambridge T S F1(1).65a Berakhot 2b 3a See also Oxford Ms. Opp. Add. fol. 23 (no images available) 5

6 First Printed Edition of the Babylonian Talmud Printed by Daniel Bomberg Venice, Sample page from Tractate Yevamot Targum Onqelos BL Ms. Or fol. 173r Deuteronomy 1 Persia / Babylonia with Babylonian niqqud 11th 12th century Display.aspx?ref=Or_2363 Targum Yerushalmi (Pseudo Jonathan), c. 1500, Ashkenazi cursive script folio 231v Deut 34 with colophon folio 4r Genesis 1 Targum Neofiti Rome 1499 / 1504 Correctly identified in 1949 fol. 1r Genesis 1 Targum Neofiti Rome 1499 / 1504 fol. 446v, end of Torah, plus colophon 6

7 Bodleian, Mishneh Torah, beginning fol. 2a (left) fol. 1b (right) Bodleian, Mishneh Torah, beginning fol. 136b (left) fol. 136a (right) Maimonides Mishneh Torah Code of Jewish Law Oxford Manuscript / Bodleian Library MS Huntington 80, folio 165a Checked against my book, I, Moshe be Rabbi Maimon (followed by homage to his father in Arabic) Maimonides ( ) Guide for the Perplexed Copenhagen Manuscript Barcelona, 1348 Maimonides Guide for the Perplexed Copenhagen Manuscript Barcelona, 1348 Colophon: Levi ben Isaac (scribe) Menahem Bezalel (patron) Ferrer Bassa (artist) (?) 7

8 Maimonides Guide for the Perplexed Copenhagen Manuscript Barcelona, 1348 CG 1 Colophon: Levi ben Isaac (scribe) Menahem Bezalel (patron) Ferrer Bassa (artist) (?) King Pedro IV of Aragon Ben Ezra Synagogue Cairo, Egypt The opening in the Women s Gallery to the Geniza (Geniza = storeroom) Friedberg Genizah Project Tafsir of Saadia Gaon on Genesis 3 4 Cambridge T S Ar.1a.2 Just one of the 300,000 documents found in the Cairo Geniza during the 1890 s. Dropsie Haggada (Halper 211) Cairo Geniza c /index.cfm?so_id=2242 Qiddush (sanctification over the wine) The vast majority (193,000) are housed in Cambridge, the second largest collection (31,000) is at Jewish Theological Seminary with Oxford, Manchester, St Petersburg, and Philadelphia also holding significant numbers of documents. 8

9 Dropsie Haggada (Halper 211) Cairo Geniza c. 900 מה נשתנה Mah Nishtana (start) Dropsie Haggada (Halper 211) Cairo Geniza c. 900 מה נשתנה Mah Nishtana (continued) מה נשתנה / Questions The Four Mishna manuscripts Three questions (dipping, matzah, roasting) Mishna printed editions Four questions (dipping, matzah, bitter herbs, reclining) (to conform to the Babylonian rite) MS JTS (New York) Two questions (dipping, roasting) MS Dropsie/CAJS (Philadelphia) Three questions (dipping, matzah, roasting) CUL T S H2.152 verso Passover Haggadah text with five questions! CUL T S H2.152 verso Passover Haggadah text with five questions! Birkat ha Mazon Grace after Meals 9

10 Johannes of Oppido = Obadiah the Proselyte c c Johannes of Oppido = Obadiah the Proselyte c born in Oppido, southern Italy son of a Norman aristocrat named Dreux Oppido 2. Constantinople 3. Baghdad 4. Aleppo 5. Banias 6. Fustat / Cairo entered the Catholic priesthood as a youth Johannes was influenced by the conversion of Andreas, archbishop of Bari, who adopted Judaism in Constantinople c Johannes converted to Judaism Johannes of Oppido = Obadiah the Proselyte Travels throughout the Near East: o Iraq o Syria o Israel Settles in Egypt: o Fustat / Cairo Numerous documents found in the Cairo Geniza, including his memoir and various compositions Obadiah Memoir 14 pages of text, in the Budapest, Cambridge, and New York collections Obadiah Memoir My next digital humanities project: ovadya.org Hebrew prayer barukh hag gever blessed is the man (based on Jeremiah 17:7) 10

11 Hebrew prayer barukh hag gever blessed is the man set to Gregorian Chant set to Gregorian Chant Epistle of Rabbi Barukh of Aleppo, on behalf of Obadiah ha Ger MS_Heb_a_3/1a MS_Heb_a_3/1b Bodleian_Library,_MS._Heb._a._3,_fol._1_ _Letter_of_Barukh_ben_Isaac_of_Aleppo Reading the Epistle of Rabbi Barukh, c C.E., Bodleian MS Heb. a.3 Italian Rite Woman s Siddur (JTS MS 8255) folio 5v Gift of the scribe Abraham Farissol to his bride Beginning of the Epistle of Rabbi Barukh of Aleppo Bodleian MS Heb. a.3 Italy

12 Italian Rite Woman s Siddur (JTS MS 8255) folio 5v Gift of the scribe Abraham Farissol to his bride Italy 1471 שׁ ע שׂ ית נ י א שּׁ ה ו ל א א ישׁ for you made me a woman, and not a man Kennicott Bible Written in La Coruña, Spain, 1476 Now in the Bodleian Library (Oxford) opening page of the biblical text Genesis 1 Kennicott Bible Beginning of the book of Kings Written in La Coruña, Spain, 1476 final page of the Torah text Deuteronomy 34 Kennicott Bible Written in La Coruña, Spain, 1476 Opening of the book of Jonah 12

13 Kennicott Bible colophon Kennicott Bible colophon with names, place, date, etc. Kennicott Bible colophon I, Moshe son of Jacob ibn Zabara, the scribe... I wrote and I proofread and I added the Masora and I checked these twenty four books, in one collection; and I concluded it on Wednesday, the 3rd day of the month of Av, in the year [5235] [=1476 C.E.], here in the place La Coruña... for the delightful young man Isaac, dear firstborn son of Don Shelomo de Braga... Second colophon, with the name of the artist, Yosef ben Hayyim Kennicott Bible online: Discover/Search/#/?p=c+0,t+,rsrs+0,rsps +10,fa+,so+ox%3Asort%5Easc,scids+,pid +8c264b23 f6cc 4f18 98cf 9d75f7175b54,vi+b425fd81 ba95 4ddfbafa b304c22702eb Scroll Down: Classical Jewish Texts, from Parchment to Internet Gary A. Rendsburg Rutgers University Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life Rutgers University 4 December